More Michael Pollan

Since I enjoyed The Omnivore's Dilemma, I just got The Botany of Desire from the library (after being on reserve for quite a while - I had forgotten I'd even reserved it when the notice came). It's pretty interesting. The subtitle is "A plant's-eye view of the world" and it discusses evolution and dispersion for four types of plants - apples, tulips, cannabis and potatoes. I've just started the apple section and learned a few interesting things. Apparently Johnny Appleseed was primarily planting apple trees that would be used for hard cider, which was just about all anyone drank in the US in the late 18th and early 19th century. Apple trees grown from seed do not turn out to be anything like their parent apple tree - you have to graft to get a good tasting apple - so all those seeds were not going to produce good eating apples. It's an interesting read.